It is quite remarkable. In the middle of Paris stands a 210-metre concrete giant from which window panes and parts of the facade now regularly fall onto the street – and the real surprise is not that this is happening. The surprise is that no one has yet died beneath this debris.
Perhaps it has now become part of the cityscape. The Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, the Louvre – and the Tour Montparnasse as a monumental symbol of how masterfully problems can be allowed to linger. Year after year, there are discussions, plans, disputes and calculations. Meanwhile, windows are leaving the upper floors and finding their own way towards the asphalt.
Naturally, every incident is followed by the usual ritual. The fire brigade arrives. Streets are cordoned off. Experts rappel down the facade. Politicians express concern. Owners point to unresolved funding issues. Then calm returns – until the next pane falls.
One inevitably wonders: what exactly are they waiting for? The first death? A car being hit by several hundred kilograms of glass? Or for tourists to start photographing the tower only while wearing hard hats?
This has long ceased to be about architecture or the question of whether the Tour Montparnasse is beautiful or ugly. Parisians have argued about that since it opened. It is about safety. About responsibility. And about the alarming impression that owners and decision-makers would rather conduct endless debates than finally take action.
The dispute over sums running into the millions now seems downright grotesque. There appears to be no money for renovation plans. Barrier tape and fire brigade deployments, on the other hand, apparently form part of the calculated daily routine. A remarkable set of priorities.
Paris likes to present itself as a global metropolis, a city of innovation, culture and quality of life. Yet in the middle of this world city stands a high-rise building that is falling apart piece by piece. Of all places, at one of the capital’s busiest transport hubs.
Perhaps the Tour Montparnasse should simply be officially repurposed. No longer as an office building, but as a memorial to the art of French administration. Free admission – hard hats recommended.
At some point, every stalemate comes to an end. The only open question is: will it happen through decisive action, or only after a tragedy? Anyone unwilling to answer that question has long since become partly responsible.
C. Hatty